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Definition of distress : 1. A state of danger or necessity; as, a ship in distress, from leaking, loss of spars, want of provisions or water, etc.
2. Extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind; as, to suffer distress from the gout, or from the loss of friends.
3. That which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery.
4. The act of distraining; the taking of a personal chattel out of the possession of a wrongdoer, by way of pledge for redress of an injury, or for the performance of a duty, as for nonpayment of rent or taxes, or for injury done by cattle, etc.
5. The thing taken by distraining; that which is seized to procure satisfaction.
6. To cause pain or anguish to; to pain; to oppress with calamity; to afflict; to harass; to make miserable.
7. To compel by pain or suffering.
8. To seize for debt; to distrain.

Synonyms:

wo, perplexity, scathe, sadness, joy, detriment, dejection, sorrow, anxiety, ease, aggrieve, shame, ail, trauma, danger, distraint, cark, straiten, grieve, wretchedness, mortification, injure, regret, mourning, melancholy, vexation, heartache, harm, happy, crisis, damage, worry, desolation, happiness, disappointment, concern, excruciation

hurt, cramp, painfulness, earache, irritation, sore, suffering, back-ache, burn, torture, throe, grief, agony, stab, sting, irritate, ache, pang, rack, migraine, headache, malaise, crick, infliction, gripe, chafing, spasm, throb, wound, chafe, smarting, suffer, pain, inflame, afflict, wrench, anguish, stitch, agonize, torment, affliction, bruise, inflammation, misery, bite, smart, injury, discomfort

destitution, bane, blight, adversity, burden, hard luck, contretemps, ordeal, catastrophe, curse, mishap, disaster, misadventure, hard times, peril, calamity, trouble, misfortune, tribulation, poorness, dolor, trial, hardship, tragedy, casualty, rainy day, difficulty, bad luck, woe, poverty

homelessness, lack, paucity, beggarliness, insolvency, want, pennilessness, dearth, bankruptcy, mendicancy, tenuity, embarrassment, impoverishment, asceticism, famine, penury, pauperism, privation, insufficiency, indigence

discipline, avenge, fine, persecute, penalize, lambaste, chastise, keelhaul, pillory, chasten, castigate, execute, reprise, crucify, sentence, incarcerate, punish, try, confine, correct, imprison, judge

forfeiture, payment, chastisement, punishment, reprisal, penalty, execution, judgment, revenge, confinement, imprisonment, persecution, retribution, crucifixion, price, verdict, correction, castigation, incarceration

Usage examples:

• She was in great distress, and did not mind the danger. - "A Gentleman Vagabond and Some Others", F. Hopkinson Smith.
• Meaning a signal of distress? - "The Boy With the U. S. Survey", Francis Rolt-Wheeler.
• Avery asked in distress. - "The Bars of Iron", Ethel May Dell.